{"id":1174,"date":"2025-08-10T15:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T13:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swazidailynews.com\/?p=1174"},"modified":"2025-08-10T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T13:56:37","slug":"us-backs-eswatinis-crackdown-on-dirty-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/1174\/future\/us-backs-eswatinis-crackdown-on-dirty-money\/","title":{"rendered":"US Backs Eswatini\u2019s Crackdown on Dirty Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Thokozani Mazibuko<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States has pledged deeper cooperation with Eswatini in its fight against illicit financial flows, a multi-billion-dollar drain on Africa\u2019s development, promising to help track, seize, and recover stolen assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at the opening of the Eswatini Inter-Agency Coordination Workshop on Asset Forfeiture and Financial Crime in Mbabane this week, US Embassy Political Economic Officer\u00a0Allen Hodges\u00a0hailed the country\u2019s progress in clamping down on financial crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

He pointed to\u00a0more than 25 money laundering investigations\u00a0launched under Eswatini\u2019s Inter-Agency Coordination Framework, a platform linking financial intelligence units, prosecutors, regulators, and investigators, as proof that coordination is producing results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEswatini\u2019s progress sets a strong example for the region, and we are hopeful this workshop will build on that momentum,\u201d Hodges told delegates gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn.<\/span><\/p>\n

The urgency is clear.\u00a0According to the\u00a0United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa loses an estimated\u00a0US$88.6 billion every year,\u00a0the\u00a0equivalent\u00a0of\u00a03.7% of its GDP, through illicit financial flows (IFFs).<\/span><\/p>\n

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These flows include tax evasion, trade misinvoicing, money laundering, and outright corruption. For resource-rich countries, the losses are devastating: wealth is siphoned into offshore accounts while budgets for hospitals, schools, and infrastructure are gutted.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0African Union\u2019s High-Level Panel on IFFs, chaired by former South African president\u00a0Thabo Mbeki, has warned that these illicit flows \u201crob Africa of the resources needed for sustainable development\u201d and deepen inequality.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two-day Mbabane workshop brought together law enforcement agencies, regulators, and judicial officers from across Eswatini to\u00a0tighten asset recovery processes, improve intelligence sharing, and close legal loopholes\u00a0exploited by financial criminals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hodges\u00a0stressed\u00a0that\u00a0tackling\u00a0IFFs is not just a matter of criminal\u00a0justice,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0about\u00a0protecting\u00a0the country\u2019s economic sovereignty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIllicit financial flows undermine good governance, erode public trust, and deny citizens the benefits of their country\u2019s resources,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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US Embassy Political Economic Officer Allen Hodges<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The US support is part of a wider international push to help smaller economies like Eswatini take on increasingly sophisticated cross-border syndicates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eswatini\u2019s crackdown comes as the\u00a0Southern African Development Community (SADC)\u00a0works to operationalise its Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML\/CFT) under the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The committee, which held its inaugural meeting in February\u00a02024\u00a0\u2014\u00a0aims to align member states\u2019 laws and enforcement with\u00a0Financial Action Task Force (FATF)\u00a0standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

The push comes amid fears\u00a0of\u00a0more countries\u00a0being\u00a0greylisted, following South Africa and Mozambique.\u00a0Eswatini is under pressure to meet FATF\u2019s stringent compliance measures to avoid the reputational and economic damage of\u00a0greylisting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, the Ministry of Finance reported that Eswatini lost\u00a0over E200 million\u00a0to money laundering in the previous year. The\u00a0Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit (EFIU)\u00a0received:<\/span><\/p>\n